Supermarkets to slash fuel prices

Supermarkets Asda and Sainsbury's are cutting the price of petrol.

From Tuesday customers at Asda's 196 filling stations will pay no more than 127.7p a litre for petrol and no more than 132.7p a litre for diesel.

Asda said this was the lowest price for a litre of fuel since February 2011.

The latest cut means Asda has shaved 14p off the cost of a litre of fuel since the end of April, reducing the cost of filling up a family car by almost £10.

Asda's petrol trading director Andy Peake said: "After a weekend of falling oil prices and fading hopes of an England victory at the Euros, our petrol price cut will bring a smile back to the nation's faces."

Sainsbury's said it was reducing its fuel prices too, with petrol and diesel coming down "by up to 2p per litre" from Tuesday.

The AA said the 14p Asda reduction since April was welcome. While Asda had dropped its petrol price largely in line with wholesale, the UK average was down 10.5p a litre since the record high in mid-April.

AA public affairs head Paul Watters said: "We expect to see the usual behaviour of other retailers matching Asda where they need to while charging up to 4p a litre more in other towns, from southern England up into the Midlands.

"This winds up drivers, local and national politicians more than retailers seem to understand. The Government's pressure for fuel price transparency may help to reduce the postcode lottery that blights fuel prices in the UK.

"It may also address the disparity between petrol versus diesel prices at wholesale level and the price gap at the pump. In April, retailers in Europe were charging less before tax for diesel than petrol. Not in the UK, of course."

Fuel strike postponed while union sits down for talks

Fuel tanker drivers will not strike next week or over Easter.

Britain’s motorists breathed a collective sigh of relief after union Unite issued a statement confirming that they will instead focus on substantive talks to establish minimum standards in the fuel oil distribution industry rather than engage in industrial action.

The union insists that its demands for standards to be introduced for portable sector pensions, independently accredited training, and health and safety were not unreasonable and in line with standards already in place elsewhere in the oil industry.

“We will not be calling Easter strike action as we focus on substantive talks through ACAS [employment rights and conciliation service],” said Diana Holland, Unite’s Assistant General Secretary.

She warned that strike action could still be a possibility if talks broke down and that the dispute was not political but industrial.

“The Government’s recent rhetoric will not help us achieve a negotiated settlement. [It] must set aside its political objectives and work with us, the employers, retailers and oil companies to achieve an outcome that is good for the industry and the country.

“It should be stressed that what we are seeking is reasonable and no more than what is in place elsewhere in the industry. There have been minimum standards governing the offshore oil industry since 2000 covering health and safety, training and terms and conditions.”

Unite is keen to get the talks under way as soon as possible but it is understood that they will not take place before Easter.